Traditions
by Kate Roberts
Summary: My Christmas fic for 2011 :


**My annual Christmas fic for ya'll :) Hope you enjoy it!**

**In this fic, Catherine is 26 and Vartann is 28**

**Thanks for Andry for the BETA**

**Disclaimer - I own nothing! no characters nothing (well...except the children lol)  
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><p>Playing Santa was Catherine Vartann's favourite part of Christmas, as it has been for the past five years, ever since the birth of her son, Tyler.<p>

"Do you think I went over board?" She asked looking at the pile of presents.

"No." Lou answered, blowing cookie crumbs all over the carpet.

"Lou! The carpet!"

"Sorry but you asked me to eat Santa's cookies!" He replied with a laugh. Catherine refused to put the cookies back in the bag instead of eating them, she felt as if it took away from the Santa myth.

"Yes, but you could be more careful! I can't vacuum; it'll wake up the kids!"

"It'll add to the Santa part." He smiled at her and stood up from the couch. He walked to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"This looks so beautiful! The tree looks amazing and the way you colour coordinate the presents…"

"Stop making fun of me!" The redhead said turning to face him.

"I am not making fun of you; it's just…so touching."

"You are making fun of me!" Catherine said wiggling out of Lou's arms. She looked at the gifts again. "I hope we can pay for it all." She bit her bottom lip. With Lou working as a rookie, having just made detective and Catherine studying forensic sciences at UNLV, money was tight.

"Don't worry about it Catherine, just enjoy the holidays." Lou said putting an arm around her waist. "We should go to bed, I have a feeling Tyler will have us up nice and early tomorrow morning."

"You go, I'll be right there, I just remembered that I left one of Isabel's gifts in the pantry."

"Alright then," Lou gave her a quick kiss, "see you upstairs." He flashed her a gorgeous grin as he climbed the stairs. The redhead went to her kitchen, got the last gift and turned off the lights in the house as she returned to the living room. After placing the last gift, Catherine took a few steps back and looked at the tree to see what it would look like when the kids walked into the living room the next morning.

"Perfect!" she whispered to herself before turning off the lights in the Christmas tree and going to bed.

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><p>The next morning, Catherine's eyes flew open as soon as she heard shuffling in Tyler's room. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was only 6:30am.<p>

"No way." Lou mumbled pulling the duvet higher on his shoulder.

"Let's wait to see if he comes into our room." The redhead closed her eyes and began to drift off.

"Our son is up." Vartann sighed as little footsteps were heard in the hallway five minutes later. Their room was illuminated as the bedroom door was thrown open.

"MOMMY!" The little boy yelled as he jumped on the bed. Catherine smiled as she pulled back the duvet, inviting her son to lie between her and Lou.

"Can we go open presents?" Tyler asked.

"Not yet, let's wait until Isabel wakes up, okay?" The redhead replied giving him a warm smile. The redheaded boy pouted slightly as he turned his back to his mother, looking to Lou for a different answer.

"Sorry buddy, mom has spoken." The boy sighed as he settled in the bed. Catherine gently stroked Tyler's hair and watched his eye lids droop; they would hopefully be able to squeeze in a few more minutes of sleep. Just as the boy began to sleep, a cry was heard from the other end of the hall.

"Muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum."

"Isabel's up!" Tyler said as he sat up.

"I'll go." Vartann said as he slid out of bed. Catherine glanced at the clock to see that only a half hour had passed.

"Can we go now? Can we? Can we?"

"Sweetheart, let's wait for daddy and Isabel." It was five minutes before Lou showed up at the bedroom door with the two year old in his arms. Tyler jumped out of the bed and stood beside Vartann. Catherine put her house coat on and took Isabel from Lou.

"Hi beautiful girl." Catherine said giving Isabel's cheek a kiss. She laughed at Lou racing to catch Tyler as the boy ran to the living room.

"WOAH!" the redheaded boy's eyes lit up as he saw the presents.

"Did Santa eat the cookies?" Catherine asked as she placed Isabel on the ground.

"Yeah! Look!" Tyler said showing his mother the empty plate.

"Mama!" Isabel exclaimed pointing to a present. Catherine sat on the floor and motioned to Isabel to join her. The two year old sat on her lap as Lou sat besides Tyler. It only took minutes for the living room to become a mess of ribbon, bows and paper.

"Lou, I'm going to go shower so we can all be ready for mom's lunch." Lou nodded and took Isabel so she could sit on his lap. Catherine knew that once she was showered her task would be to dress the kids, a task that proved to be nearly impossible on Christmas morning. She quickly showered and got ready. She knew Isabel would need to nap soon, leaving her time to tear Tyler away from his presents and dress him.

"Oh, look at how pretty mommy is." Lou smiled as Catherine walked into the living room again. While she was in the shower, the paper had been stuffed into a garbage bag and the toys that had remained in their boxes had been pushed to one side of the room. Vartann had managed to build a small train track for Tyler's remote control trains while Isabel played with a new doll.

"Time for daddy to go shower." Lou jumped up, kissed Catherine's head and ran up to shower. The redhead sat silently and watched her children play. It was one of her joys on Christmas morning, seeing her kids' faces light up as they opened their new toys. Catherine noticed that Isabel had begun rubbing her eyes, the toddler was always up early but always napped for an hour in the mornings.

"Come on beautiful." Catherine said picking up Isabel. "Mommy will be right back." she addressed Tyler. Catherine climbed the stairs and placed Isabel in her crib. She closed the door and returned to the first level, where her son was still playing with his trains.

"Okay Tyler, time to get ready for Grandma Lily's."

"Noooo!" the boy replied, his eyes still glued on the train that was doing its rounds on the tracks.

"Oh well, guess I'll have to call grandma and tell her you don't want the gifts she has for you." Catherine sighed taking the cordless phone in her hand. The boy's head shot up as he looked at his mother with wide eyes. "Do you want to get ready now?" Tyler nodded furiously, threw his remote control aside and ran up to his room. Catherine quickly put the boy in his pants and new button up shirt. She wrestled with Tyler's messy red hair until she admitted defeat and let him return to his toys. Catherine walked to Isabel's room and opened the door a crack to peer inside. She had taken a step away from the door when she heard 'mama!' The redhead smiled as she opened the door.

"Hi pretty!" the redhead said she picked up the girl. After changing Isabel's diaper, Catherine dressed the girl with a red tartan dress, tying the girl's wavy brown hair with a small red bow.

"Are my girls ready for grandma's house?" Lou asked walking into the room.

"Yes we are." Catherine replied as Isabel extended her arms to Vartann. "You put her in her coat and I'll get Tyler." Lou nodded and walked away, making Isabel laugh as he tickled her gently.

"Come on Tyler, we're going to grandma's house! You can play with your trains when we get home." The redhead said. The boy jumped up and ran to the door, putting his coat on before Catherine could get there. She helped him zip up his coat and put his toque one. She helped Tyler into his booster seat, which was besides Isabel's car seat in the couple's SUV.

"Ready?" Vartann asked with a smile as Catherine got in the car. The redhead nodded and the family was off for their Christmas day.

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><p>That evening when they got home, Isabel was so tired that she slept as Catherine carried her from the car to her bedroom. The toddler slept as her mother changed her diaper, put her into pyjamas and finally in to bed. When she exited the room, Lou arrived at the top of the stairs with Tyler by the hand. The boy's eyelids were drooping. It had been a long day, they had spent the morning at grandma Flynn's house before heading to Grandma and Grandpa Vartann's for super and more presents. The kids loved going to the Vartann's family Christmas. Lou was from a family of ten children, seven girls and three boys, so the kids had a lot of aunts, uncles and cousins. Tyler spent most of the evening playing with his older cousins, while Isabel, the youngest grandchild, would go from one aunt's arms to the next. It was eight pm before the family got home. Catherine helped the sleepy boy change into his pyjamas. Tyler was so tired that it was like handling a doll. After a quick trip to the bathroom, Catherine tucked Tyler in his bed.<p>

"Did you have a good day?" she asked quietly. The boy nodded. "Good night, sweetheart." The redhead kissed his forehead and left the room as Lou entered it. Catherine went to her room and changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants, after spending the day in dress pants and a silk top, the change of clothes was more than welcomed. She went down into the kitchen, brewed a quick cup of tea and went to sit in the living room. Vartann came to join her minutes later; he too had changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants.

"What a day." He sighed as he dropped besides her.

"It's only once a year and I like it, Christmas is about family after all." The redhead smiled as she looked at him. Lou wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"You're right." Catherine leaned to rest her head on his shoulder.

"Christmas Vacation is on." She pointed to the TV. It was Lou's favourite Holiday movie.

"And that is how we end the day, as always." Vartann replied as he pulled her close. Catherine smiled as she thought about her day again. She loved Christmas and celebrating with the kids and their families was the best part of it. She looked at Lou and shook her head as he laughed out loud at the movie. No matter how exhausting the day was, Christmas really was her favourite time of year.

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><p><strong>I hope you've enjoyed this fic :) I want to wish you all happy Holidays! :)<strong>

**please leave a review! :) it can be my gift :P**

**~Kate xo**


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